You always seem to ride horses that have an exciting temperament, horses that are to-the-edge almost, do you deliberately pick hot ones?
"We prefer the horses with a lot of temperament and energy because if you want a horse with power, he has to love to go."

You would rather a horse that is a little bit exciting than a horse that is super quiet?
"It shouldn’t be very exciting. But sometimes if you bring a horse out at the beginning of the season, it can happen. But if that horse then comes right, it makes a really good impression, the horse is really light, it looks much better ­ the horses are motivated to go."

Do you try to work them in a way that you don’t have to discipline them too much?
"They have to love to go. It is always very difficult: to make too much, or too little. It’s difficult to find the right way for every horse. Dr Schulten-Baumer and I, we try to find the right key for every horse. Not to take one key, or one way of riding, for every horse. Horses have different personalities and different movement, you have to find a way for every horse."

With a horse like Amaretto, who can get excited, is it hard to find the ‘key’?
"For Amaretto it is quite difficult because we go to shows with him normally, he is number one. Same with Gigolo, so when I bring both to the same show we have problems. Amaretto was a bit behind Gigolo because I was first with Gigolo in the Grand Prix and I tried to make it very good for  him. Then I start with Amaretto, and they are really big personalities, and I think Amaretto feels that he is not the only one at the show, then he was too emotional  to work. He was not relaxed. Outside the ring I was quite satisfied with him, but because I hadn’t had a chance to work him on the main arena, when we went inside, he saw a lot of things, it was difficult for him, especially the first show of the new outdoor season. It doesn’t matter if a horse like Amaretto has a bad test because everyone can see that he has great possibilities, okay he can be spooky, but such possibilities."

How much work do you give Gigolo before a test?
"Normally 30 to 40 minutes. I don’t want to go into the ring with a tired horse. They must go with motivation, with lightness, not just tired."

At home do you only work your horses in an arena?
"Normally in the dressage arena, but sometimes for sure, we go outside, go for a walk, go on the racing track ­ not really galloping but just giving them a look at another way of life and another way of working. It’s not a planned thing, when we do that depends on my feelings and our competition plans. We do it more with the younger ones, because it is good for them to go forward on the racing track. It’s really good for them to be free."

Do they go out in the paddock every day?
"Not every horse. Some of them that are quiet and used to going in a paddock, they go out."

In the Kür at Wiesbaden, Amaretto was so good even with all the rain and the lightening and thunder around him?
"It gave me a good feeling that he was calmed down and he was quiet. He was normal. But outt walking, Gigolo is the centre of attention. ‘Doesn’t he ever get sick of people coming up and patting him?’ ‘No, he loves it!’. I think it was because during the day, I only concentrated on him. I took him out and we worked a bit and he was number one. Gigolo was quite jealous yesterday because we prepared everything  for Amaretto. Three times he put his water out of his bucket…

But for the Special, Gigolo was king again…
"He was brilliant today. I was so pleased with him. I think he couldn’t do better.

How do you keep him right between now and the World Championships in Rome?
"He has a little break, a few weeks with only quiet gymnastics. Then we try to build him up for Aachen, then the Championships."

Are you looking forward to the WEG?
"Right now, the next show is the most important thing, but later we will start to concentrate on the Championships. Gigolo is my horse for the Championships, but it is very good to have Amaretto ­ towards the end of last year on the World Cup circuit, he was beating Bonfire and Walk on Top. It’s a good feeling for me to have two horses like that."

Do you think Gigolo will be your horse in Sydney 2000?
"We have so much time. It depends on the form, and the fitness of the horse. We will decide one year before, but we can be really happy that we have so many horses that can go."

All of your horses have come to you and Dr Schulten-Baumer as youngsters ­ is this a training policy?
"Yes, Dr Schulten-Baumer buys them at the auctions as three or four year olds. It is our way of working to try and build up young horses."

Can you see when they are only three years old that they will have the capacity to piaffe and passage?
"You can see the movement and the possibilities, but then you have a big hope, you bought the horse, and after two or three years you can see if it was right or not right…

How often are you right…
"Until now we are mostly right."